Missing while fishing near Idukki reservoir: Rescue workers recover 2nd person's body

IDUKKI: The rescue workers have recovered the body of a 36-year-old man on Wednesday, two days after the body of his elder brother was fished out from near the Idukki reservoir. The duo who had gone out fishing was reported missing since July 21.

The body of Binu K K, a native of Chakkimali, Kulamavu in Idukki district, was recovered from the Venganam area of the dam. His brother Biju K K, 38, was found on Monday. The duo was missing in the Kannamkayam area of the Idukki dam when they went fishing on July 21.

The brothers had spread the fishing net in the dam area last Tuesday evening (July 20) and went to collect the fish caught in the net the next morning. As they did not return even after Wednesday noon, their family members tried to contact them on their mobile. However, they were not unavailable on the phone too.

Following an alert by the family members, the police and the revenue officials under the leadership of Idukki Tahsildar reached the spot by Wednesday evening.
Since searching in the reservoir on canoes owned by local people was not possible due to strong currents in the dam, a boat owned by the Navy authorities in Kulamavu was deployed for the search operations. The search launched with the help of scuba teams from the Kattappana and Moolamattam fire units in the district also did not succeed.

Meanwhile, the boat and the mobile phones of the brothers were traced near the dam site last Thursday but they were nowhere to be found. On Monday, four days after the rescue operations, the body of one person was recovered, and two days later his younger brother's body was found from the water.

The 36-year-old's body will be shifted to the Idukki Medical College Hospital for post mortem, officials said.